My Journey in Writing, Ranting, and Woodworking

In every journey there is a point where one needs to find their way.  One can use a map to find their destination, unless; well unless they are a man.  We men prefer to use the force.  In my woodworking journey I decided to find my way by using a compass.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy using one.  Now that I have a try square, it is the perfect time to revisit this powerful tool.

I needed to make some square pieces of wood.  I could have used a ruler and measured the width of the board and then marked out the same distance along the length.  But I choose to find my way by drawing an arch and then using the try square to draw my cut line.  This was a simple and enjoyable exercise.  I marked out six squares.

I hadn’t thought about it since I started doing woodworking, but the compass is the perfect tool for dividing a board in half.  Imagine that you have a board that is trapezoidal in shape.  One could measure each end and do the math to figure out where the middle point is and mark it.  Or simply use the compass to find the center of each end and connect the points.

If it has been a while since you have found the center of two points with a compass, I will give a quick refresher.  Place the pointy end of the compass in a corner, stretch the compass until it reaches past the half way mark, then draw an arc.  Move the compass to the next corner and repeat.  The point where the arcs cross is the center.  If one then opens the compass a bit more and repeats, followed by connecting the two points, one now has a line that is centered.  Creating a perfectly centered line without a ruler is almost like magic.  I won’t go into deriving an octagon or solving the proof for Euler’s circle, but I will say that geometry is cool.  You may not think so, but once you start to use a compass and straight edge to solve measuring problems, it may become magical to you too.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog piece on my router table fence.  The fence needs to be able to have an attachment for my shop vac.  After considering several options I decided upon a design.  The first step was to chisel a mortise that matches the opening in the top of the fence.  Before I started the mortise I gave the chisel a good sharpening.  With my sharp chisel in hand I created a shallow mortise fairly quickly.  Actually I don’t really know how long it took.  It was such a joy that I didn’t really pay attention to the time.  It might have taken quite a long time; I guess we will never know.  Into the mortise I glued two triangular blocks of 6/4 hard maple, which were cut off of the feet of the saw horses Teri and Tracy, and had been waiting to be included in a project.  Before I glued the blocks into the mortise I drilled a one inch hole.

After the glue had dried sufficiently I tried the connection and it was really wonderful.  A nice tight fit, which I will be able to remove, should I get another different shop vac, and replace with a connector designed for it.  This was an important consideration in the design.  I know that this isn’t my last shop vac and I wanted the option to be able to switch connectors.

The next step is to create a top to the connector that will take the hose.  This is where the six square blocks previously mentioned will come in.  I have an evil plan which I will work on tonight, after this post, and show it to you tomorrow.  Unless it fails miserably, then I will try something else.

I am finding my way, with the help of my trusty compass, and enjoying all the sights along the way.  Now back to the shop, at least until the Cornell game tips. 

Can you have a post script in an email?  I am not sure.  Let’s give it a try.

p.s. Yes, it seems to work.  The proof is created with only a pencil, paper, straight edge, and compass.  Euler’s Circle is a 9 point circle that can be constructed given any triangle.  Originally he theorized that this proof would be a hit at parties and would wow the ladies.  Sadly this turned out not be true, though there are still a few of us who dare to dream.  I constructed the pictured version a few years back, it took me 45 minutes, and as of the writing of this post, has yet to cause a single woman to swoon.